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SERAPH OF ASSISIUM 



BT 



REV. TITUS JOSLIN 



SUPERIORUX PERMiaaU, 



"Si quid apte et bene compositum invenitur tibi Maria omnium 
datrici referatur :— si quid vero sylvestre rude ac rusticum reperiatuf 
mihi oumium miniiiiae creaturse adscribatur."— Sylvkika. 



PUBLiaHED BY P O^BHKA, 

27 BAUCLAY STIiEET, 

1867- 




:g |0i:trait si St. jniutis, 



FROM THE 

LEGEND COMPOSED BY ORDER OF 
POPE GREGORY IX. 

'* Our Blessed Father was agreeable to all. 
Joy, setenlty, kindness, and modesty were 
perceptible in his. countenance. He was 
naturally mild and affable, compassionate, 
liberal, prudent, discreet, gave sound advice, 
was faitiifal to liis word, and full of courage. 
He was easy in his manners, accommodating 
himself to all sorts of tempers, he was all to^- 
all, he was a saint among the saintly, and 
among sinners as if he was one of them ; 
his conversation was graceful, and his man- 
ner insinuating ; close in his reasoning, ener- 
getic and compliant in matters of business ; 
and finally, simple in his actions and words. 
He was of middle size, neither short nor tall, 
but well shaped. His face was oval, his fore- 
head smooth, his eyes black and modest, his 
mouth pretty, his hair of chestnut colour; 
his beard black, but scanty, his body very 
thin, his skin delicate, his speech pleasing 
and animated, his voice strong and piercing, 
but altogether mild and sonorous." 







Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S56, 

By p. O'Shea, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States tor the 
Southern District of New York, 



PREFACE. 



**The example of the Saints," says St. 
Bernard, *' rouses the courage ot sinners, and 
fortifies the courage of the just." 

Could the reader of the following pages 
have stood in the porch of a certain church of 
the city of Eome in the early part of the 13th 
century, he would one day have remarked, 
leaning against one of the pillars, a figure of 
middle size, clothed in a habit of ash gray 
color, with knotted cord reaching from his 
waist to the ground. Beneath his hood might 
be discovered a face worn with suffering, 
black eyes, delicate skin, hair of a rhest- 
nut color. His speech is pleasing and ani- 



4 FEEFACE. 

mated, his voice strong yet mild and sonorous. 
It is St. Francis, the ^^poor beggar of Christ," 
the Seraph of Assisium. 

Poverty of spirit lies hid beneath that out- 
ward destitution, and within the slender frame 
beats a heart whose desires are those of one 
who delights in the Lord. So subdued him- 
self, he has a strange power of subduing, with 
a breath, everything wild and unruly that comes 
in his way. The outline of his life, dear reader, 
is before you ; and if you, at the conclusion of 
its perusal, wish that you too might taste the 
sweetness of God, call to mind St. Bernard's 
definition of the reward promised to purified 
hearts : 

** Peace is the tranquility of order." 



THE 



SERAPH OF ASSISIUM, 



CHAPTER I. 



BORN IN A STABLE. 



In the year of our Lord 1182 a little 
child is born at Assisi a town of Urn- 
bria in Italy, under circumstances not 
unlike those which attended the birth 
of our Saviour in Bethlehem ; his birth- 
place a stable, his cradle a bundle of 
straw. He is the child of Roman Catho- 
lic parents, that same little model of 
1* 



a. 



6 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

our infant Lord. They take him to be 
christened. A stranger presents him- 
self as godfather and is accepted. Who 
the stranger is no one knows. After 
he has gone, they examine the marble 
steps near the baptismal font, where 
he knelt in thanksgiving, and find upon 
them the impress of his knees. When 
they get home, another man is waiting 
who seems to have been sent by God. 
He begs that he may be allowed to 
see the child and hold it. He takes 
it in his arms, caresses it, warns the 
nurse to have more than common care 
of it, for fear of the devil's rage, and 
disappears. That little child will one 
day be a saint, honored on Catholic 
altars, loved and reverenced by future 
generations. But God does nothing in 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 7 

a hurry. The stone on which a new 
edifice is to be built is rough and im- 
perfect. By repeated strokes of the 
hammer it must be prepared for its 
pLace in the walls of the heavenly city. 
That little child has yet to learn the 
art of dying to himself, that he may 
live to God. 



CHAPTER 11. 



EARLY CHILDHOOD. 



Years roll on. The child grows up 
to be a boy, and ripens into manhood. 
Though attached to the w^orld, fond of 
company to excess, extravagant in his 
dress — still he fears God, and holds im- 
purity in abomination. His father scolds 



8 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

Lim for his extravagance, but scold- 
ing does not change him. His patient 
and gentle mother told the neighbors 
they would see a difference when the 
boy came to maturer years. She knew 
he had faults, but she knew too that 
his temper was exquisitely mild and 
condescending, that he was generous to 
an extreme, that he had great good 
sense, and one thing above all, she had 
remarked from infancy, viz., that God had 
implanted deep in his heart great feel- 
ings of compassion for the poor. The 
expectations of that pati3nt mother were 
not disappointed. The mild and gen- 
tle lady Pica never regretted that she 
had been patient with the boy's imper- 
fections. AVe will suffer another space 
of years to pass on, and transport our- 




THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 9 

selves to the churcli of St. Damian in 
his native town. 



CHAPTER III. 



CHURCH OF ST. DAMIAN. 



A PALE and emaciated figure kneels 
before the altar at the hour of noon. 
His dress is coarse, and a leathern gir« 
die keeps it about him. His hands 
uplifted in prayer are rough and un- 
seemly and show marks of wear. He has 
been engaged in repairing the church, 
and bringing the stones, and putting 
them up, and superintending the ma- 
sons himself: God told him one day 
to do it. A voice spoke from the cru- 
cifix : — " Go and repair my church which 



10 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

thou seest is falling." He gave the 
parish priest money to keep a lamp 
burning before that crucifix, and him- 
self went through the streets begging 
stones for the love of God, and begging 
too his own slender sustenance. If you 
watch him attentively you will notice 
that he is thinly clad ; as he prays he 
shivers with cold. His brother Angelo 
makes sport of his distress ; and whis- 
pers to one beside him, " Go and ask 
that man to sell you a little of his 
sweat." The messenorer does his er- 
rand. " I do not choose to sell my 
sweat to men, I can sell it at a better 
price to God." That is the answer. Do 
you ask me who that toil worn la- 
borer is, who has made up his mind 
to work for God, who knows how to 



THE SEKAPH OF ASSISIUM. 11 

give good pay ? He is the same who 
but a few years before worked so hard 
and fruitlessly for the admiration of 
a selfish and ungenerous world ; in the 
love of which he was entangled. What, 
you ask, has made such a difference. 
"With God's help I will try to tell you. 



CHAPTER jy. 

THE THOUGHT OF ETERNITY. 

A WORK which God only could ac- 
complish, was to detach the heart of 
Francis from everything vain. The 
towns of Assisi and Perugia were at 
war. Himself made prisoner, got hard 
usage, and no sooner once more at 
liberty than he was prostrated by a 



12 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

severe sickness. Yet weak, but conval- 
escent, to oblige a company of friends 
he entertains them by a party of plea- 
sure. It is the la^t. 

What new sensation has come over 
him, just returned home from the 
feast? He feels like a man awakened 
from a dream, penetrated with a con- 
viction of the vanity of the world and 
the grandeur of heaven, by a com- 
munication so forcible as to deprive 
him of feeling, yet mild and penetra- 
tinof. As he said himself afterwards, 
had he been torn in pieces at that mo- 
ment he would not have known it: he 
felt only at the bottom of his soul. 
The work is done. " How the earth 
becomes vile when I look upon heavenP 



What a magnificent favor. From hence- 



I 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 13 

fortli heaven is the mark: guard me, O 
God, for I am a saint ^'' Sanctus propositoP 
A saint since heaven and the God of 
heaven is my aim. 



CHAPTER Y. 

CORRESPONDING WITH GRACE. 

With all his faults, serious ones too, 
that might have brought him to ruin, 
the life-giving Spirit had breathed upon 
the germs of future sanctity which lay 
hid in the soul of Francis. His com- 
passion for the poor had drawn down 
on himself the compassion of God, and 
the love of the Immaculate Virgin. 

"Never," said he, ''when it is in my 
2 



14 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

power to give, will I refuse an alms, 
asked for the love of God." Devoted 
to works of charity and to prayer, al- 
ready our saint had hegun to receive 
lessons from the Spirit of God, who 
made him feel that the most difl&cnlt 
and important thing that remained was 
to make the attempt to gain one good 
victory over himself Opportunities pre- 
sently offered. 

There was a man whose lips and face 
had been eaten away by a dreadful 
cancer. Francis, walking the street, saw 
him approaching. Shall he turn away 
from the loathsome object? It is the 
first impulse. But no, he will not, but 
runs up to him, embraces him, and 
kisses the cancerous face, which is im- 
mediately healed. "I know not," says 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 15 

St, Bonaventure, '' whicli most to ad- 
mire, sucli a kiss or such a cure." 

Riding one day across the plains of 
Assisi, lie perceived in the distance a 
loathsome object making up to him. It 
was a leper. At first sight he felt 
horror-stricken. Gladly would he have 
turned his horse's head to get out of 
that sick man's way. No, he will not 
do it. See lr*m dismount, and kiss 
him, and give him some money. Need 
we wonder that after that he prayed 
with fervor, on fire with the love of 
God, whose heart he had won? Lis- 
ten to the words which he heard one 
day as he knelt before his crucifix : 
" Francis, if you desire to know my will, 
you must despise and hate all that you 
have loved and wished for till now. 



16 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

Let not this new path alarm thee, for 
if the things which now please thee 
must become bitter and distasteful, those 
which now displease thee will become 
sweet and agreeable." Thenceforth, as 
for the lepers, he was their devoted 
servant, washed them and tended them, 
and a little before his death declared 
that w^hat had seemed to him most 
bitter in such occupation, had been 
changed into what was pleasing both 
for soul and body. 



CHAPTER YI. 

HE LOVES HIS CRUCIFIX, 

The love of God had become so 
strong in the heart of St. Francis, that 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 17 

it gave him sensible sweetness to pro- 
nounce His lioly name, or tliat of His 
blessed Mother, so delicious the taste. 
The sight of Jesus Christ fastened to 
the cross, made him feel the misery of 
the poor so intensely, that he would 
strip himself to clothe them, and go 
without bread to save them food. His 
eyes became red with weeping, his sobs 
and groans could be heard outside the 
church. " I weep," said he, '^ because 
others do not at what my Lord suffer- 
ed." There was a rock on Mount Al- 
verno, in which was a huge fissure, said 
to have been split by the earthquake 
which happened at the crucifixion. 
Thither he retired to reflect in the bit- 
terness of his soul on the time that he 

loved God too little. In a word^ St. 
2* 



18 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

Francis of Assisium had been favored 
witli a taste of heaven, an appreciation 
of its magnificence which he never for- 
got. He had ceased to love the world 
and tho' things that wcfc in the world, 
save after the manner that God had 
loved them. His eye had caught a 
glimpse of the city of the saints, and 
whatever he did he never took his 
gaze ofi^ that fair vision, save to turn 
it in love either on the Crucified Him- 
self, or the miseries of His sufi^ering 
members. "What were the fruits? 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 19 

CHAPTER VII. 

A PURIFIKP HEART. 

" Give me," said St. Philip Neri, '' ten 
men truly detached from the world, 
and I have the heart to say that I 
will convert the world with them.'' 
The remainder of this sketch will be 
devoted to showing how St. Francis, 
by the grace of God, detached from 
this world, did more than his tenth 
part of that work, and the means by 
which he accomplished it. God's love, 
like a burning fire, seeks fuel that it 
may consume. The world was the fuel, 
the heart of Francis contained the 
spark out of God's own furnace, which 
would become a blazing fii'ebrand. 



20 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

rhen, as now, the world was full of 
men whose faith was dull, whose hope 
was faint, whose charity was little. 
Because their iniquity had abounded 
their charity had grown cold. The 
work which then only a saint sent by 
God could have the heart to set his 
shoulder to, was equalled only by the 
magnitude of the evil which had to be 
surmounted. Faith must be woke up. 
Men must be made to realize that the 
rewards waiting for the good were great- 
er than could be conceived, the torments 
reserved for the wicked awful beyond 
the power of human description. 

Hope must be revived. Men must 
some way be made to feel that the 
three hours' agony of Jesus Christ was 
a fact, which at three o'clock on Good 



di 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 21 

Friday afternoori opened forever the 
gates of heaven to as many as would 
take the trouble to enter in. 

Charity, dear precious charity, the 
apple of God's eye, the love of God 
and our neighbor, must be distilled 
once more into souls from whence it 
had departed. Frozen hearts must be 
warmed and melted. Here was what 
was to be done upon the earth we in- 
habit, in the yeai* of our Lord 1208, 
and to do all this God then found one 
man who was fit. His chosen servant Fran- 
cis, the Seraph of Assisium. How, then, 
did he go about it ? 



22 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



CHAPTER Till. 

THE MILD POWER IS GREAT. 

There is an expression which has, if 
memory serves me, been adopted as a 
motto by certain German medical wri- 
ters, which at the present juncture I 
am going to press into the service, and 
make do homage to the honor of St. 
Francis. Short, but full of meaning — 
it is this : Tli6 mild power is great. 
It will serve us better, and remain as 
true, if I reverse it : The great power 
works mildly. Men, the world over, 
have an instinctive respect for power, 
force, anything that will do something, 
that will seem of itself to act, and act 
to the purpose. Action may be silent 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 23 

or noisy. In either case, according as 
it attains its legitimate end, it is es- 
teemed, be that end a physical result, 
or the change of a human heart. Or- 
dinarily, a little force applied in the 
risrht direction does the work. Now 

o 

for an application of our principle. The 
great power works mildly. There is 
no greater or more efficient power than 
the Spiiit of God. His works are mag- 
nificent. He breathed, and man became 
a living soul. He brooded over the 
waters, at the creation, and forthwith 
they were alive with animation, full of 
fishes. A Spirit all powerful, while it 
reaches from end to end mightily, at 
the same time it disposes all things 
sweetly. For how many of ourselves, 
within our own weak recollection, has 



24 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

that loving Spirit disposed things most 
powerfully, and yet with surpassing 
sweetness attained results we never 
could have anticipated. 

That greatest of all powers. Omnip- 
otence itself, is by nature a mild and 
gentle spirit, though so mighty. Mighty 
and penetrating, mighty and discerning, 
mighty, yet so mighty that it can afford 
to work slowly, and unobserved, and 
gently, so long as it gains its end, the 
reconciliation of a sinner. 

As in creation, so also in regenera- 
tion, God's Spirit never loses its gentle 
character. 

Whether we regard it present with 
the Heart of God in heaven, or the 
Heart of Jesus on earth, it performs its 
most beautiful conversions of sinners to 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 25 

God, by touching the most hidden and 
delicate strings in the hearts of individ- 
ual men. Brute force of itself never 
does anything, though God knows how- 
to turn it sometimes to account as an 
occasion of good. 

The thundering eloquence of the most 
fiery saints would never have accom- 
plished anything, did not their words 
carry wrapped up in outward severity 
the touchino: vibrations which revealed 
the presence of God's gentle Spirit, and 
did God's work, and found a response 
in the heart of the hearer, a somethinof 
which whispered while the speaker thun- 
dered, and said, " My soul, believe me, 
that is God's voice, — listen to him — be- 
lieve him — he speaks the truth." The 
3 



26 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

mild power is great. Peace to men of 
good will. 

Animated from above with the gen- 
tle spirit of peace, the Seraph set out 
on his mission, not only to proclaim it, 
but also to communicate it. He was 
full of it himself His body mortified 
and subdued, his soul having tasted the 
sweetness of God, and ready to give 
every body who came within hearing 
distance of him a relish for heaven. 
Wherever he went men must feel that 
the peace of God meant something more 
than an empty name. 

Clothing himself in a hermit's tunic, 
coarse, rough, and of an ash-gray color, 
with a hood which covered sufficiently 
the head and face, in the year 1208 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 27 

Francis went fortli to preacli, to exhort 
sinners to repentance, and to cause our 
Lord's counsels no less than his commands 
to be loved in the world. Men found 
him a very plain-spoken man and unpre- 
tending, but a fire glowed in his face 
which was not to be mistaken ; and 
every sentence that went forth from 
his blessed lips was solid and animated 
with the Spirit of Grod, and so effectu- 
ally penetrated the hearts of his hear- 
ers that every one was surprised at it. 
"May the Lord grant you His peace,'' 
words which he declared had been re- 
vealed to him, were always the first 
rounds that fell on the ears of his audi- 
tors. And God did grant his peace to 
thousands to whom that salutation came, 
so that men looked upon him as an an- 



28 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

gel sent from heaven to draw down npon 
them every blessing. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE SCHOOL OF ST. FRANCIS. 

't was soon noised abroad that a man 
was in the world whose life and actions 
bore a close resemblance to those of Je- 
sus Christ, with whose love he burned, 
whose passion he mourned. Men heard 
him preach. The spark fell and caught, 
and others wished that they might live 
with him, and go about with him, and 
learn his secret of attracting hearts, as 
the disciples did of our blessed Lord. 
The first whom he accepted was Bernard 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 29 

de Quintavalle, and tlie v/ay it happened 
was this. He invited the saint to supper, 
pressed him to stay all night, and had a 
bed prepared for him in his room. Ber- 
nard made believe to sleep. The lamp 
still burned. Francis arose, fell on his 
knees, melted into tears, and with eyes 
raised to heaven, and arms crossed, pro- 
nounced slowly these words^ " Deus mens 
et omnia — My God and my all," which he 
repeated during the whole night. This 
and other proofs of his sanctity were 
enough for Bernard, who resolved to give 
all his riches to the poor, and follow him 
forthwith. This he did in the square of 
St. George, at Assisi, divesting himself 
of his money to receive in return the gold 
of God's charity, and the love of St. 

Francis, who then gave him a dress like 
3* 



80 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

his own, called him his eldest son, and 
was always tenderly attached to him. It 
was not long before six companions in 
all, after the heart of St. Francis, strove 
with him to conform men to the heart of 
God. '^ Go," said he to them one day, 
" and exhort men to do penance for the 
remission of their sins and for peace. 
Some will be mild and good and listen to 
you, others will despise you. Be patient 
in tribulation, fervent in prayer, fearless 
in labor, unassuming in speech, grave in 
your manner, grateful for the favors and 
benefits you may receive. The kingdom 
of heaven, which is eternal, will be your 
reward." 

He then divided the routes they were 
to take, by forming a cross which pointed 
to the four quarters of the globe. Tak- 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 81 

ing one for himself and a companion, he 
sent the other six, two and two, to the 
other sides. 

Whenever they came to a church they 
prostrated themselves with these words, 
taught them from God : — '' We adore 
Thee, O most holy Lord Jesus Christy 
here and in all Thy churches which are 
in the whole world, and we bless Thee 
for having redeemed the world by Thy 
holy cross." They had a great venera- 
tion for all chapels, crosses, and every 
thing that had any relation to the wor- 
ship of God. As soon as any one ad- 
dressed them, they wished him peace, 
and taught him how to gain it. If any 
one seemed to them to be going wrong, 
and in danger of losing his soul, they 
strove to bring him back in a mild aad 



82 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

humble manner. In their sermons, what- 
ever the Holy Ghost insph^ed them, over 
and above their own due preparation, 
that they spoke ; pointed out the true 
way to heaven, showed what were the 
duties of charity, and endeavored to 
bring all to love and fear God and keep 
His commandments. 

When they were asked from what 
country they came, and to what profes- 
sion they belonged, they answered, " We 
are penitents from Assisi." 



CHAPTER X 



A NEW ORDER 



Fkai^cis having returned to the hut 
at Rivo Torto whence they parted, and 



» 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 83 



where in the meantime he had obtained 
'four new disciples, full of tenderness 
for his children on the mission, began 
to feel as though he would like to see 
them all together again, and prayed 
God to brim? them back. The six re- 
tm-ned to Assisi from various j)laces 
as though they had acted in concert, 
and related with joy to the new com- 
munity the outrages and blows they 
had been found w^orthy to sufi'er in 
the service of Jesus Christ. It was at 
this time that Francis foreseeing in his 
little community a future order in the 
Catholic Church, told them it was time 
to give an account of themselves to 
the holy Roman Pontiff and secure his 
approbation. '' Let us go" said he, " and 
find our mother the holy Roman Church. 



84 THE SEKAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



^ 



Let us make known to our holy father 
the Pope, what God has deigned to 
begin through our ministry, in order 
that we may pursue our course accord- 
ing to his will, and under his orders." 
St. Paul, returned from the third heaven, 
would undertake no new labor till he 
had consulted the then reigning Pon- 
tiff St. Peter, and made a journey to 
Jerusalem for the j)urpose. Neither 
would Francis undertake auo-ht without 
the approbation of Peter's successor, 
saint thouijh he was. The little com- 
pany set out for Rome, praying and 
talking of God and holy things as they 
went. 

Ijs'jn^ocejS't III., at the time Fran- 
cis obtained an audience with him, was 
engaged in talking of some important 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 35 

affairs of the Cliiirch, and dismissed 
him abruptly. The saint, as he retired, 
restored sight to a blind man in the 
street. The same night the Pontiif had 
a vision. A palm at his feet grew up 
to be a great tree, and God made him 
understand that the tree was Francis 
and his new order. In the morning 
search is made for the poor petitioner, 
and at last he is found in the hospital 
of lepers, and conducted back to the 
palace. Again the Pope has a vision. 
A poor man is seen to support on his 
shoulders the Latei'an Basilica, which 
is falling to ruins. God puts it in the 
Pontifs heart to grant the approba- 
tion, and the little party return home 
in joy, the new order of St. Francis, 
another gem in the diadem of Christ's 



36 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM 



Kpouse, another joy to the heart of 
Mary. 



CHAPTER XI. 

A PRESENT FROM THE HOLY VIRGIN. 

Pope Inistoce^^t III., was not mis- 
taken when he said of Francis, "truly 
it is that man who will support the 
Church of Jesus Christ by his works 
and by his teaching." A deacon by 
the imposition of the holy Father's 
own hands, the Seraph leads back his 
little flock of disciples, often stopping 
by the way to deliberate on the best 
means of making themselves examples 
of holy lives for others. On more than 
one occasion heaven smiled on them, 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 87 

and by miraculous providence supplied 
their wants. Absorbed in God and tlie 
discussion of his interests, they forgot 
one day their usual repast till the fa- 
tigue of travel reminded them that 
there was no food to be had. A man 
they had never seen, brought them a 
loaf and disappeared — bread that left 
their souls replenished with consolation 
and the love of poverty, and their bodies 
with unwonted strength. Returned to 
the valley of Spoleto, their increasing 
numbers, no less than a revelation re- 
ceived by Francis, made them feel the 
want of some suitable and more commo- 
dious residence than they had yet pos- 
sessed, and here our Blessed Lady gave 
them a visible proof of her love, and 
made them a present. How did our 



■38 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

Lady do this ? she had a church which 
was very dear to her, and she put it 
into the heart of the Benedictine Ab- 
bot of Mount Soubrazo to give it to 
them. 



CHAPTER XII. 

ST. MARY OF THE ANGELS. 

In the year 352, four hermits came 
from Palestine to Italy, and obtained 
from Pope Liberius, permission to settle 
in the valley of Spoleto. There they 
built a church, and put in it a piece 
of the Blessed Virgin's sepulchre, and 
called it St. Mary of Josaphat. At 
a later day, the Benedictines called it 
St. Mary of the Angels. The neigh- 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 39 

boring peasantry testified that more 
than once light blazed from the win- 
dows at midnight, and melodious can- 
ticles as of angels, resounded beneath 
its holy roof. 

Enter now with me the church of 
Portiuncula, our Lady of the Angels. 
It has just been presented to ''the 
poor beggar of Christ" for his own, and 
the Blessed Virgin has given him to 
understand, that among all temples con- 
secrated under her name, this is the 
one for which she has the greatest at- 
tachment. It is nig:ht, and Francis is 
on his knees to recommend his family 
to her protection. A splendid light 
reveals to him, our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, His holy Mother, and a multi- 
tude of angels, who cast upon him 



40 THE SEKAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

looks of great benignity. '' O most 
holy Lord/' lie exclaims in adoration, 
" King of heaven, lledeemer of the 
world, sweet love ; and thou, O Queen 
of Angels, by what excess of goodness 
do you come dow^n from heaven into 
this small and poor chapel?" Hear the 
reply : '^ I am come w^ith my Mother 
to settle you and yours in this place, 
which is very dear to us." In this 
holy sanctuary of the Queen of Angels, 
the Order of St. Francis grew^ into 
maturity with our Lady's blessing. 
Here St. Francis trained up men ac- 
cording to his own heart, which was 
according to the heart of God ; — ^men 
meek and humble of heart like our 
Blessed Lord, but strong in the Spirit 
of God; men mortified in body, but 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 41 

superior to bodily corruption, — men who 
would go fortli and convince tlie world 
by the peace they brought along with 
them, that indeed the mild power is 
great, and God is wonderful in the 
variety of graces that attend His saints. 
The force of that gentleness in the holy 
tribunal of penance has worked miracles 
of grace, which none but God could 
count for number, as none save God 
could observe. From this holy sanc- 
tuary of Portiuncula, they went forth 
every day to beg their daily bread, 
which he called the bread of angels, 
" because," said he, " the good angels 
inspire the faithful to bestow it for the 
love of God. We eat the bread of 
angels when we live on that." Happy 

community ! Thrice happy ! Happy 
4* 



42 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

master ! Kind and benignant Lady. 
Francis was always tenderly attached 
to St. Mary of the Angels, and in his 
last will commanded his successors al- 
ways to venerate it, and keep around 
it ; — if driven away on one side, to re- 
turn on the other. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

OUR LORD IN THE MIDST. 

As yet he had not heard them 
preach. One by one they stood up at 
his bidding, and let him have a sample 
of what they could do, and he listened 
in admiration as each in his tuin, with 
the &e and energy of a new apostle, 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 43 

discoursed so beautifully on tlie sub- 
ject allotted to him. At the conclusion, 
Jesus Christ appeared in the midst of 
them, in the form of a very beautiful 
young man, and gave His blessing to 
each in succession with wonderful be- 
nignity. As soon as our Lord was 
gone, Francis, in a transport of love, 
spoke himself to the assembled com- 
munity, and the next morning, divid- 
ing Italy among them, sent them forth 
once more to convince men, that God's 
goodness had made him compassionate 
to a world loaded with crimes. 

He reserved for himself Tuscany as be- 
ing nearest to St. Mary of the Angels, 
and took care to leave there enousrh to 
sing the praises of their Lady and Mis- 
tress, and instruct the novices whom God 



44 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

would send to join them. Going, they 
went from that most holy sanctuary, re- 
turning thither, they returned. St. Mary 
of the Angels was ever open to welcome 
her returning children. From time to 
time the Seraph himself animated them 
with new zeal in her service, with the 
following or similar discourses : " We have 
promised great things," my brethren, 
"and we have been promised greater. 
Let us keep the first, and let us sigh after 
the others : pleasure is of short duration, 
the penalty is eternal. Sufferings are 
light, glory is infinite. Many are called, 
but few are chosen. Each one will re- 
ceive according to his deserts." Full of 
his spirit they travelled the world over, 
and each time came home and departed 
leading thousands captive to the love of 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 45 

God. The devil was afraid of those early 
Franciscans. 

One Easter Francis had occasion to go 
to Arezzo, a town from which the spirit 
of peace had long since departed, by 
reason of frequent and repeated quarrels 
and dissensions. Lodged in the suburbs, 
the servant of God suspected what was 
the matter. He could discern, by the 
penetration God gave him, devils in great 
variety, who excited the citizens to mas- 
sacre each other, transported with joy at 
their own diabolical success. Sylvester, 
a priest, at his command, standing afar 
oflF, addressed them, ^' All you devils who 
are here, begone ; go far from hence. It 
is in the name of God, and of His servant 
Francis, that I call upon you to go." 
Peace in that same instant returned to 



46 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

the town ; the devils of discord departed ; 
inveterate enemies, they knew not how 
nor why, found themselves on a good 
understanding, and Francis, in spite of 
himself, recognised as the instrument of 
reconciliation, was brought into town in 
triumph, where, in the great public 
square, he preached on the love of peace 
and the means of preserving it ; teaching 
that quarrels come from and are pro- 
moted by the evil spirit. They brought 
him a child, deformed from its birth. 
He took it into his arms, and forthwith it 
became straight. 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 47 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ANOTHER JOURNEY TO ROME. 

Iis" the year 1216, Francis undertook 
again to visit the holy city ; and having 
blessed his assembled disciples, set out 
with this parting exhortation: "In the 
name of the Lord, go forth modestly. 
Let no idle or useless words be heard 
amongst you. Behave in such manner 
that whosoever may see or hear you may 
be moved to devotion. Proclaim peace 
to all men, but have it in your hearts 
as well as in your mouths. Give no one 
cause for anger ; on the contrary, by 
your own mildness, induce every one to 
feel benignly. We are called to heal 
the wounded, console the afflicted, and to 



48 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

bring back those who err. Many may 
seem to you to be members of the devil, 
who will one day be disciples of Jesus 
Christ.*" He then set out to recommend 
his labors to tbe Holy Apostles. As 
lie prayed in the cliurch of St. Peter, 
that the Holy Apostles would instruct 
him in poverty and the apostolic life, 
they appeared to him amid a profusion 
of ligbt, embraced him, assured him that 
our Lord had favorably beard bis pray- 
ers and tears, and left him full of interior 
joy. It was on this journey that he 
made the acquaintance and friendship of 
the holy Patriarch St. Dominic. While 
Francis was at Rome, Pope Innocent III. 
died ; and on the 18th of July, Honorius 
III. was elected to succeed him, who eon- 
firmed the new institute, as Innocent had 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUX 49 

before approved it. Returning to St. 
Mary of the Angels, the saint stopped 
awhile in the valley of Rieth, to convert 
the dissolute inhabitants. The wolves, 
as a farmer told him, made dreadful ha- 
voc among them ; and the hail destroyed 
their crops. After convincing them that 
these scourges were the effects of God'a 
justice, he promised their deliverance if 
they did penance for their sins, and the 
condition was accepted. Nothing more 
was heard of wolves, and when it hailed 
in the vicinity, the clouds went off in 
another direction. He got back to St. 
Mary of the Angels in January, 1218,. 
where God, to guard him against any 
emotion of pride, permitted a severe 
temptation. For several days he was 
dreadfully depressed ; nor did he get any 



50 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

relief till one day during tlie fervor of 
his prayer our Lord tLus spoke : '' Francis, 
if thou hadst the faith of a grain of mus- 
tard seed, and wert to say to this moun- 
tain, Go hence, it would go." " What 
mountain?" he inquired. ''The moun- 
tain," said our Lord, " is the temptation." 
Weeping and trembling himself, the saint 
replied, " Thy will be done," and imme- 
diately was relieved. 



CHAPTER XV. 

FRANCIS AND THE SULTAN. 

TniRSTii^a, in the excess of charity, to 
shed his blood for the love of Christ, in 
the following year, 1219, the new apos- 
tle of the love of God bent his steps 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 51 

eastward. The army of Crusaders lay 
siege to Damietta, the stronghold of 
Egypt. The Sultan of Damascus, with a 
much more numerous army lay behind 
the entrenchments, and with his brother, 
the Sultan of Egypt, gained a signal 
victory over the Christians. At this 
period, Francis arrived, or rather, just on 
the eve of the battle, and told the com- 
manders openly, that if they joined iight 
they would be beaten. But minds were 
then too much excited to desist. On the 
29th of August the day went against 
them, and the saint proved a prophet. 
Burning for the conversion of the Sara- 
cens, Francis betook himself to prayer, 
and set out for the camp of the infidels 
with one companion. The Saracens met 
them strolling, rushed upon them as 



52 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

wolves on sheep, insulted, beat, and 
bound them. " I am a Christian," said 
Francis, ^4ead me to your master," and 
so they did. Meledin asked who sent 
them, and w^hy they came. " God sends 
me," said the saint, "to teach you and 
your people the way of salvation." Fran- 
cis then unfolded the principal points of 
Catholic faith, and Meledin became so 
mild and tractable, that the infidels were 
astonished. The saint even offered to 
pass through a great fire unburnt, in 
confirmation of the truth, would his own 
infidel priests undertake as much, which 
they refused. Instead of doing any 
harm, Meledin dismissed him most affec- 
tionately, and sent him home with every 
mark of honor. Some think that a few 
years after^ on his deathbed, the Sultan 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 53 

called for a priest and was baptized. One 
thing is certain, a century after tlie death 
of St. Francis, the Sultan of Egypt gave 
the Holy Sepulchre in care of the Fran- 
ciscan friars, and to this day they watch 
it day and night. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THIRD JOURNEY TO ROME. 

In 1222, Francis set out again for the 

threshold of the Apostles, and as he went 

God worked many splendid miracles by 

his hand. In the town of Toscanella, he 

was entertained by a knight, whose only 

^on was lame in both legs, in his whole 

body a picture of suffej'ing. The father 
5* 



54 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUAL 

asked liim to procure the cure of liis son 
from God. Pressed by repeated entreat- • 
ies, thougli esteeming himself unworthy 
to be heard for others, the saint placed 
his hands upon him, and made the sign of 
the cross over the boy, who, at the same 
moment stood upright and firm on his 
legs, and was entirely cured. 

At Home he made the acquaintance of 
a certain nobleman w^ho invited him to 
dine. The host being less punctual than 
the saint, Francis joined a group of poor, 
to whom they were giving a meal, and 
commenced to eat with them. When the 
nobleman got home, he declared he would 
not take dinner, if Francis did not come ; 
when, turning round to look out of the 
window, he spied him in the yard, with^ 
a group of beggars. Descending forth- 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 55 

with, he placed himself on the ground, 
level with him, with these words, " Bro- 
ther Franc is, since you won't dine with 
me, I am come to dine with you." 

There was a little child, called John, 
whom he requested Francis to bless, who 
took him in his arms, and foretold that 
he would one day be Sovereign Pontiff, 
which afterwards really happened. In 
the year 1277, he was chosen Pope, and 
took the name of Nicholas III. Francis 
predicted, at the same time, the benefits 
which his own order would receive from 
that child. "I see them already," said 
he, " in his little hands." 

From Rome he turned aside to visit 
the grotto of St. Benedict, where still ex- 
isted the thornbusli into which that pa- 
triarch threw himself to overcome a temp- 



56 THE SERAPH OF ASSTSIUM. 

tation of the flesh. In admiration at such 
fervor, Francis kissed it, and made over 
it the sign of the cross, when God changed 
it into a beautiful rose bush, whose flowei^s 
have served on more than one occasion 
since to cure the sick. 

On the same journey he went to ven- 
erate the relics of St. Nicholas at Bari, 
and visited the grotto on Mt. Gargano, 
consecrated by the apparition of the 
Archangel Michael. Stopping at the 
door of the sanctuary he w^ould not enter, 
but only exclaimed, " I dare not go fur- 
ther ; this place is awful, it is the dwel- 
ling of angels, w^hom men should resj)ect 
in all w^ays." Let Christians remember 
these words as often as they approach 
that tabernacle where the Lord of An- 
gels reposes under the veil of His sacra- 



I 



THE SEPwAPH OF ASSISIUIW:. 57 

ment ; — the Son of God, and the son of 
tlieir lovely Queen. 

Fatigued with travel and labor, the 
Seraph returned at length, once more, to 
his dear St. Mary of the Angels, to la- 
bor again for his own sanctification, as 
for a whole year he had for that of others 
— our Lord having determined to renew 
His passion in a pure man like Francis, 
in order to imprint it again in hearts 
from whence it was obliterated. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE SACRED STIGMATA. 

To attempt to recount all the miracles 
of St. Francis would exceed the narrow 
limits of this restricted outline. At 



58 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

the end of tlie work the most important 
of them will be found classed under 
appropriate heads. 

I hasten to recount the circumstances 
of that great and magnificeiit prodigy 
by which our Lord renewed in the body 
of His servant the memory of His own 
sacred passion, a miracle celebrated every 
year throughout the entire Roman Ca- 
tholic Church by a proper mass and 
office, on the 17th day of September. 
You have seen the infant Francis cry- 
ins; in a mangier. You shall now re- 
gard him in the other extreme of life, 
pierced with the five sacred wounds 
which now, as so many brilliant jewels, 
adorn the glorified body that once hung 
on the cross in bitter agony. The way 
it happened was this. Every year ho 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 59 

was accustomed to prepare himself for 
the Feast of St. Michael the archangel, 
by retiring for forty days previous, to 
Mount Alverno, and remaining during 
the whole time in prayer and solitude. 
Two years before his death, while he 
was thus occupied about the Feast of 
the Exaltation of the Cross (September 
14th), an angel appeared and gave him 
notice to prepare for all that God would 
do for him. He replied : '* I am pre- 
pared for everythmg, and I shall not 
in any way oppose His holy will, pro- 
vided He condescends to assist me with 
His grace. Although I am a useless 
man, and unworthy that God should 
cast a thought on me, nevertheless, as 
I am His servant, I beg He may act 
by me according to His good pleasure." 



60 THE SEKAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



With a body weakened by austeri- 
ties, he had now been on retreat since 
the Feast of the Assumption. 

A day or two after, continuing still 
on the side of the mount, one morn- 
ing, as he -raised his eyes, his soul full 
of Jesus Christ crucified, he saw as it 
were a seraph, having six brilliant wings, 
and all on fire, descending towards him 
from the height of heaven. This seraph 
came with a most rapid flight to a spot 
in the air near to where the saint was, 
and then was seen between His wings, 
the figure of a crucified man, who had 
his hands and feet extended and fas- 
tened to a cross. Joy, mingled with 
grief and sorrow, spread over the soul 
of Francis. The presence of Jesus 
Christ caused him an excess of pleas- 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 61 

ure, the sj)ectacle of His crucifixion re- 
newed witliin his own seeing distance, 
filled him with compassion, and made 
his soul feel as though a sword of sor- 
row had gone through it. At the 
same time, Jesus Christ, evr^r mild and 
gentle in the operation of His most 
stupendous works, spoke to his inmost 
soul as one friend to another, giving 
him to understand, that henceforth by 
the vehemence of God's love, which 
would inflame his soul, himself would 
be transformed into a j)erfect resem- 
blance of the living crucified. Listen 
now to what followed, as it is related 
by St. Bonaventure : '' The vision van- 
ished, leaving his soul on fire with the 
ardor of a seraph, and imprinting on 
his body a figure similar to that of 



62 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

a crucifix, as if his flesh, like softened 
wax, had received the impression of 
the letters of a seaL The marks of 
the nails began to show themselves on 
his hands and feet, as he had seen them 
on the fig^i?.: of the crucified man. His 
feet and hands were seen to be perfo- 
rated by nails in their middle; the 
heads of the nails, round and black, 
were on the inside of the hands, and 
on the upper parts of the feet ; the 
points, which were rather long, and 
which came out on the opposite sides 
were turned and raised above the flesh 
from which they came out. There was 
likewise, on his right side, a red wound 
as if it had been pierced with a lance 
and from this wound there often oozed 
a sacred blood, which soaked his tunic, 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 63 

and anything he wore round his waist." 
Thenceforth his heart and his flesh 
exulted. Thenceforth he might if he 
chose, exclaim with St. Paul : '• Let no 
man be troublesome to me, for I bear 
the marks of the Lord Jesus in my 
body." Often and often had he thirsted 
for martyrdom; — to shed his blood for 
God, who had f)oured out His. Full 
of the desire, he had gone among the 
Saracens, and won them completely by 
his miraculous gentleness. The Sultan 
of Egypt, Meledin, could with difficulty 
restrain himself from being a Christian. 
Francis offered to pass over burning 
coals for him without detriment. In- 
stead of putting him to death, Meledin 
8ent him away loaded with honors, but 
thirsting as much as ever for a cruel 



64 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM 



1 



and bloody deatli, would he ever grant 
him so to testify his burning devotion 
to the passion of our Lord. Xot so 
would Grod fulfil his wishes, but in a 
manner strano;e and unusual would he 
ornament him with His own blessed 
wounds. 

Why O Seraph of Assisium did God, 
so visibly clothe you with Jesus Christ ? 
Why did he fix his eyes on you to 
print you with those wounds at once 
the price of our redemption, the source 
of life, the pledge of salvation ? Be- 
cause you were himself within. Long 
since your soul unseen to men had 
been conformed to His own, you had 
taken lessons of the Sacred Heart ; the 
mildness and modesty of Jesus Christ 
had possession of your demeanor. Blessed 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 65 

purity of heart which came to see 
God ! Inimitable meekness, which pos- 
sessed and overpowered the earth of 
human corruption, and drew from on 
high the impress of the Lamb that 
was slain. The photograph of a friend 
is valuable but it may be lost: an im- 
press such as that, imperishable for 
time and eternity, a pledge of love 
that can never grow cold, a device 
such as God only could conceive. Ni- 
mis honorati sunt amici tui Deus, nimis 
confortatus est principatus eorum. 

Francis did his best to conceal the 
favor he had received. He kept his 
hands covered so that the nails should 
not be seen, and St. Clare made him 
a pair of slippers which covered those 

of his feet. And here I must not omit 
6* 



66 



THE SERA7H OF ASSISIUM. 



to tell 



St. Clar 



From 



you wno K^t. uiare was. 
cliildliood her own compassion for the 
poor, and interior conformity to Jesus 
Christ had been that of St. Francis. 
As soon as she heard about him she 
wished to follow his rule of life. Be- 
fore her birth her mother had a vision — 
a wonderful light seemed to break 
forth — and w^as made to understand 
that her future daughter would en- 
lighten the world by the splendor of 
her holiness. The daughter of a noble 
lady, God brought her to speak with 
him, and under his guidance she with 
her sister St. Agnes had chosen God 
for their spouse, and heaven for their 
inheritance. At the time of the sacred 
Stigmata, the abbess of a community 
of consecrated virgins, she rejoiced her- 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 67 

self, and glorified God for the joy of 
the father to whom he had entrusted 
her. To make him a pair of sli|)pers, 
and help him keep his secret, was a 
satisfaction that gave her much delight. 
This slipper which is still preserved 
was so neatly contrived that the nj)per 
part covered the heads of the nails, 
and the underneath being somewhat 
raised, the points did not' prevent his 
walking, for though these nails gave 
him pain, they did not take from him 
the use of either hands or feet. 

But concealment was impossible. The 
author of the prodigy had himself dis- 
closed the secret, and filled the hearts 
of the people with expectation. All 
had heard of it. The morning it oc- 
curred at break of day, they had seen 




68 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

the mountain illuminated witli a md? 
brilliant light, and as lie came down 
among them again on Michaelmas day, 
they ran in crowds to kiss his hands. 
As these were tied round with ban- 
dages he offered them the tips of his 
fingers. In a village near Arezzo they 
brought him a child of about eight 
years of age, who had been dropsical 
for years, whom he cured instantane- 
ously by touching him. No wonder 
that hands so like our Lord's, should 
touch and heal as did His own. 

As for himself the miracle left his 
body so weakened that it was evident 
he could not long survive, though his 
soul thirsted more than ever for the 
salvation of souls and to serve the le- 
pers. 



THE Sj^xtAfH OF ASSISIUM. 69 

Carried about from place, to place 
the crowd got around him, touched him, 
pressed upon him, brought the sick 
that he might but lay his hands upon 
them. Himself was sick and needed 
care. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

"PRETIOSA IN -CONSPECTU DOMINI MORS SANCTORUM 

EJUS." 

Ik order that he might be nearer to 
Clare, who loved to take care of him, 
they brought him to a small and poor 
cell, near the convent of St. Damian. 
It was his desire to render up his soul 
to God there where he had received 
the spirit of grace, the church of St. 
Mary of the Angels. As he prayed 



70 THE SEEAPH OF ASSISIUM. flH 

for patience to bear his pain, Jesus 
Christ thus addressed him : " Rejoice, 
it is through the way in which yon 
are, that heaven is reached." Seeing 
his last hour draw near, he sent for 
Clare, as well as for a noble Roman 
lady who had befriended him, request- 
ing her at the same time to bring along 
wax lights for his funeral. 

Surrounded by these and a few chosen 
disciples, he exhorted them to perse- 
vere in the faith of the Church of 
Rome, and in their veneration for the 
church of St, Mary of the Ang-els, be- 
fore whose altar lamps must be always 
kept burning. His own devotion to 
the Most Blessed Sacrament, and to its 
chosen guardians, he declared in the fol- 
lowing remarkable words, w^hich were 
committed to writing on the spot: 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 71 

'^ Oar Lord gave me, and He still 
gives me, so much, faith in priests, who 
live according to the forms of the holy 
Roman Church, because of their cha- 
racter, that if they were to persecute 
me, it would be still to them that I 
should have recourse. I mean to fear 
them, to love them, to honor them. 
What induces me to do this is, that I 
see nothing in this world so discerning 
of this same Son of God, the Most 
High, as His very sacred bocy, and 
His most holy blood, which they re- 
ceive, and which they alone administer 
to others." 

After delivering at length his last 
testament, of which the above is a part, 
he sent for his confessor, and ordered 
brother Angelo to sing in his presence 



72 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



a canticle giving praise to God for all 
His creatures, as well as for death. At 
the conclusion of that canticle, we our- 
selves will take our stand around the 
deathbed of a saint, and watch his mo- 
tions in the parting moments of disso- 
lution. 

Placing his arms one over the other 
in form of a cross, present and absent 
receive his last blessing, in the name 
and by virtue of Jesus crucified : " I 
leave you in the fear of the Lord. I 
go to God with great eagerness, and 
recommend you all to His favor." Call- 
ing then for the book of the Gospels, 
he made them read the passion from 
St. John, and that being ended, began 
himself to recite "Voce mea ad Dom- 
inum clamavi,'' until the last verse, 



. THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 73 

" Bring my soul out of prison tliat I 
may praise Thy name: the just wait 
for me till Thou reward me.*" In the 
very same instant Francis went to re- 
pose ; — Saturday evening, the 4th day 
of October, in the year 1226, in the 
forty-fifth year of his age, and the be- 
ginning of the third since he received 
the Stigmata, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

HIS SOUL ENTERS HEAVEN. 

On the same night that Francis died 
Brother Austin of Assisi, a just and 
saintly man, who was in the last stage 
of a severe illness, and had ceased to 
speak, suddenly exclaimed: "Wait for 



74 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

me, my father, wait for me ; I will go 
with you." The brethren, astonished, 
asked him who he was speaking to ? 
" What," said he, " don't you see our 
father Francis, going up to heaven ?" 
At that very moment his own soul 
separated itself from his body, and fol- 
lowed after. 

Francis appeared also on the same 
night to the Bishop of Assisi, at the 
time on his way to the Church of St. 
Michael on Mount Gargano, and said: 
" I leave the world and am going np 
to heaven." The bishop found on his 
return that the apparition had appeared 
to him at the very time of the saint's 
death. Add to this that one of his 
own disciples, on the testimony of St. 
Bonaventure saw his blessed soul under 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 75 

the figure of a brilliant star, rise upon 
a white cloud, above all the others, 
and go straight to heaven; giving us 
to understand at once the splendor of 
his sanctity, and the plenitude of grace 
and wisdom, which had rendered him 
worthy of entering into the regions of 
light and peace, where with Jesus Christ 
he enjoys a repose which will be eter- 
nal. He had found whom his soul loved, 
whom he would hold fast nor let Him 
go, w^ho had brought his beautiful and 
gentle spirit in which His own was re- 
flected, out of prison. Nor did He who 
had given that beautiful soul wings to 
fly and be at rest, forget to honor in 
the eyes of men, the prison He had 
brought it out of. The body disfigured 
by disease became all at once beauti- 



76 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. jg^ 

ful beyond description ; white as snow, 
with a crimson wound in the side, and 
black hard nails like iron protruding 
through the hands and feet. Clare en- 
deavored to remove one of them, but 
could not ; she had to content herself 
with dipping a piece of linen in the 
blood which exuded. 

Miracles were multiplied, and in the 
year 1228 he was proposed to the v^en- 
oration of the catholic faithful. 

By the gentleness and love of St. 
Francis may God grant us a share of 
his spirit, his esteem for the eternal 
truths, his devotion to the Queen of 
Angels, such a taste of the sweetness 
of heaven as will make bitter in com- 
parison every pleasure short of it. St. 
Stephen was full of grace and fortitude 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 77 

wlieH he saw the heavens opened above 
him ; a glimpse of the same made Fran- 
cis a saint. A thin veil, which faith 
easily penetrates, hides eternity from oui 
own view. Yet penetrate it or not, 
there stands the awfal reality behind 
the scenes. Heaven or Hell is my des- 
tination, A moment will determine. In 
that moment my God do not forget 
me, nor you O Virgin Queen of Mercy ! 
Jesus Maeia. 



78 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM, 



APPENDIX, 




EMBRACING MIRACLES AND PARTICULARS CONNECTED 
WITH THE LIFE, NOT PREVIOUSLY ALLUDED TO IN 
THE WORE. 



**" Mirabilis Dens in Sanctis siiis." 
"^ God is wonderful in His saints^** 



EFFECTS OF THE PRAYER OF FRANCIS, 

MoRiQUEy a religious of the Order of 
Cross-bearers, being sick and given over 
by his physicians, got himself recom- 
mended to the prayers of St. Francis, 
who willingly prayed for him, and 
mixed a little crumb of bread with the 
oil of the lamp which burned before 
the altar of St. Mary of the Angels, 
which he sent him with this message : 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 79 

"The power of Jesus Christ will not 
only restore you to perfect health, but 
will cause you to become a generous 
soldier, to enter our militia and perse- 
vere in it." The sick man had hardly 
swallowed it, but he was quite cured, 
joined the saint, did great penance, and 
during a long life enjoyed perfect health. 

As Francis prayed one day on a rock 
in the valley of Rieti, in the bitterness 
of his soul deploring his early life, he 
was assured by an inspiration of the 
Holy Ghost, that his sins and all the 
temporal punishment due to them had 
been remitted. This revelation almost 
overpowered him with joy. 

One day the abbot of the monastery 
of St. Justin, in the diocese of Perugia, 
met Francis, and alighted from his horse 



80 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



1 



to speak to him. As he recommended 
himself humbly to his prayers, Francis 
replied : "I will pray with all my 
heart," and they parted. At a little 
distance, the saint said to his companion : 
" Wait a little, brother, I will here per- 
form my promise." He knelt to pray; 
and while he prayed, the abbot, who 
was riding on, felt his mind inflamed 
with such sweetness of devotion as 
threw him in an ecstasy. When he 
returned to himself, he became aware 
that it was entirely owing to the prayer 
of St. Francis. 

Add to this, that St. Francis obtain- 
ed from God, by his fervent prayer, a 
vision which induced Pope Innocent III. 
to approve his Order in spite of every 
remonstrance of its enemies to the con- 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 81 

trary. In short, the prayer of St. 
Francis was efficacious for every good, 
since it was prompted by the Spirit of 
God. The very desires of his heart 
were attended to by God, who fulfils 
the wishes of those who fear Him. 
One day, fatigued with excessive travel, 
weak, languid and exhausted, he felt 
a disgust for every kind of food. One 
thing only he felt as though he could 
eat if he had. it ; — some wild fowl. 
Forthwith, as he was speaking of it to 
his companion, a stranger brought him 
one ready dressed, which he handed to 
him with these words: "Servant of 
God, take what the Lord sends thee," 
after which he disappeared. Francis 
ate willingly of what the goodness of 
God had provided for him, and was so 



82 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

strengthened that he continued the jour- 
ney, as one who scarcely feels the earth 
upon which he treads. His prayer was 
sometimes so fervent that fire seemed to 
issue from his countenance, and all who 
beheld him when he prayed, were in- 
spired with devotion, so much as some- 
times to be raised off the ground. 
When at Rome, w^hile praying in one 
of the chapels of the church of St, 
Peter, the holy Apostle, in company 
with St. Paul, appeared to him sur- 
rounded by lights, embraced him, in- 
structed him and left the Saint full of 
consolation. A great indulgence con- 
nected with the church of Portiuncula 
should be noticed here, as one of the 
effects of the prayer of St. Francis. 
The more he prayed, the more God 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 83 

gave him light to apprehend the 
wretched state of sinners. Moved to 
compassion at the sight of so much 
bhndness, one night as he solicited 
their conversion on bended knees, an 
angel appeared and told him that Jesus 
Christ and His Blessed Mother were 
waitins: for him in the church, accom- 
panied by a host of celestial spirits. 
Greatly rejoiced to find it true, he cast 
himself at the feet of the Son of God, 
who thus addressed him, ''Francis, the 
zeal which you and your followers have 
for the salvation of souls is such, that it 
entitles you to solicit something in their 
favour, for the glory of My name." '' Our 
most holy Father," he replied, ''I entreat 
Thee, although I am but a miserable sin- 
ner, to have the goodness to grant to men, 



84 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



1 



tliat all those who shall visit this church 
may receive a plenary indulgence of all 
their sins, after having confessed them to 
a priest; and I beg the blessed Virgin, 
Thy Mother, the general advocate of hu- 
man kind, to intercede that I may obtain 
this request.'' The blessed Virgin did 
intercede, and our Lord again spoke. 
" Francis, what thou askest is great ; but 
thou wilt receive still greater favors; I 
grant thee this one ; I desire thee, never- 
theless, to go to my Vicar, to whom I 
have given the power to bind and to 
loose, and to solicit him for the same in- 
dulgence. The companions of the Saint 
overheard everything from their cells, 
and saw the light which filled the church, 
and the angels. Fear made them keep 
their distance. In the morning Francis 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 85 

assembled them, imposed silence and set 
out for Rome, where he no sooner re- 
counted the object of his visit, than the 
Pope answered, " It is my desire that it 
be granted to you." But he restricted it 
to one day in the year, which was after- 
wards fixed, as we shall presently de- 
scribe. 

"He who in prayer," says St. Teresa, 
"carries a large vessel of confidence to 
the fountain of divine mercy, comes away 
with it well filled." St. Francis expe- 
rienced this, asking of God for more than 
many before him had ever dared. Might 
not our Lord at the present day reproach 
some Catholics, '' Hitherto you have not 
asked anything in my name. Ask and 
receive, that your joy may be full." 
" When one is sorrowful and uneasy," 



86 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

said St. Francis, '' he should have imme- 
diate recourse to prayer, and so remain 
before God until such time as the joy of 
salvation is restored to him/' 

FRANCIS DOES WONDERS BY THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. 

The virtue of the cross goes with its 
sign, and from the hands of St. Francis 
lost none of its efficacy. 

In the city of Narni was a man who 
had lost the use of his limbs for five 
months from palsy. Francis cured him, 
employing no other remedy than a sign 
of the cross, which he made over his 
whole body, and by virtue of the same 
sign he restored sight to a blind woman. 
At Castello he cured a child, who had an 
ulcer, by making the sign of the cross 
on the dressing which covered it. At 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 87 

Terni by tlie sign of the cross lie ren- 
dered some sour wine perfectly good, 
and that before persons who had tasted 
it in its acid state. In the same place 
a young lad had just been crushed by 
the fall of a wall. Having had him 
brought to him he applied himself to 
prayer, and extending himself on the 
corpse, he restored him to life. 

Finding himself very faint in a cer- 
tain place near the borough of St. Ur- 
ban, he asked for some wine. As there 
was none to be had there, he had some 
water brought to him, which he bles- 
sed by making the sign of the cross 
over it, and it was instantly changed 
into most excellent wine. The little 
that he took, refreshed him so quickly 
that it was estimated a double mira- 



88 THE SERAPH OlT ASSISIU^I. 

cle. At FoliVno the sio^n of the cross 
which he made on the house of his 
host, protected it from various accidents, 
and particularly from fire. Being several 
times in danger by the contiguity of 
burning houses adjoining, the flames 
were seen to take an opposite direction. 

THE HUMILITY OF FPwANCIS. 

Of all the virtues, this, the founda- 
tion of them all, shone most eminently 
in the Seraph-saint. One instance would 
be sufficient were others wanting. He 
constantly refused to be ordained a 
priest. We will cite here but one other 
example ; a conversation which he made 
one night with one of his religious by 
way of useful recreation. " My dear 
brother," he said to Leo, '' we must not 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 89 

let this time pass without praising God's 
lioly name and confessing our own 
misery. This is the verse which I will 
say : ' O brother Francis ! you have 
committed so many sins in this world, 
that you have deserved to be plunged 
into hell.' And you, brother Leo, your 
response will be, ' it i^ true you de- 
serve to be in the bottom of hell.' " Leo 
promised to obey, though unwillhigly; 
but instead of that, he said, "Brother 
Francis, God will do so much good 
through your means, that you will be 
called into Paradise." Francis reproved 
him for his disobedience, and tried again, 
but with no better success. And so 
they went on until Leo was obliged to 
confess that the Spirit of God put the 

contrary words into his mouth in spite 
8* 



90 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

of himself. He was constantly saying, 
"Man is nothing but what he is before 
God, and no more." 

To those who called him a saint, he 
used to say, ''Don't praise me, I may 
still sin; I have no assurance that I shall 
not; a person must never be praised 
whose end cannot be known." And he 
addressed the following words to him- 
self: "Francis, if the Most High had 
bestowed so many favors on a thief 
as He has on you, he would be much 
more grateful than you are." This is 
the spirit of Catholic Saints. Lost in 
the thought of their own nothingness, 
w^hen they opened their mouths it was 
to praise and glorify God and His saints ; 
to think little and say less about them- 
selves. An absence of personal senti- 



I 



TI-IE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 91 



ment, and a fulness of praise, marked 
their speech and their compositions. 

HIS PATIENCE AND MORTIFICATION. 

Charity increases in proportion as con- 
cupiscence is deadened. Hence heroic 
charity ordinarily presupposes heroic 
mortification. St. Francis knew this. He 
called his body brother ass who required 
to be frequently beaten, despised, and 
kept well at work. Red hot irons ap- 
plied to his neck during sickness pro- 
duced no outward symptom of pain. 
He often protested that no kind of 
suffering, whether tribulation, distress, 
famine, nakedness, or persecution should 
ever separate him from the love of 
Jesus Christ. He sometimes proposed 
to himself and companions, imaginary 



92 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

distresses such as bad treatment, insults, 
cold, hunger, etc., which might happen ; 
in order to make them feel prepared 
with God's grace to meet with resigna- 
tion every occurrence His providence 
might permit to befal them. 

HIS COMPASSIOlSr FOR THE POOR. 

From infancy, the sight of distress 
moved him to self-sacrifice and exer- 
tion. Often was he seen to take the 
burdens from the poor he met on the 
road, and bear them on his own weak 
shoulders. A cloak that had been given 
him, he gave in charity to a poor wo- 
man, who had two little children who 
were almost naked. One day, when he 
was about to preach, he was entreated 
by a poor and infirm man to recom- 



THE SERxVPH OF ASSISIUM. 93 

mend him to his hearers. Tiirnino; to 
his companion, he declared, with tears 
in his eyes, that he felt the man's ills 
as if they were his own. He served 
the sick in the hospitals, and in their 
own houses, with his own hands, per- 
forming for the most ill-favored and un- 
grateful of them offices of charity, the 
sight of which melted their hearts, and 
inflamed them with the love of God. 

On one occasion he cured a leper by 
washing him, and what was better yet, 
obtained for him by his prayers contri- 
tion for his sins, which had been the 
occasion of his disease. At St. Mary 
of the Angels, he gave the book of the 
Gospels to a poor old woman who came 
to beg, at the same time observing, that 
it would be more a^jreeable to God to 



94 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUK. 

use it so in relieving extreme necessity, 
than to read out of it. At another 
time, as lie gave his cloak to a poor 
shivering beggar, he said to his com- 
panion, that, did he not do it, he would 
be afraid lest Almighty God should ac- 
cuse him of theft for keeping it. 



I 



1 



HOW FRANCIS RAISED HIS SOUL TO GOD BY THE HELP 
OF HIS CREATURES, AND THE CONTROL HE HAD 
OVER THEM. 



To Francis, all creatures were so 
many mirrors, in which he saw reflect- 
ed the sovereign beauty, and by means 
of w^hich he raised himself up to it, and 
excited himself to the love of God. 
Considering in them a common princi- 
ple of existence with himself, he w^as 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 95 

used to call them his brothers and sisters, 
and to regard them with a certain affec- 
tion, as so many streams emanating 
from the goodness of God. 

Among animals, those he preferred 
were such as reminded him of the mild- 
ness of Jesus Christ, or were the sym- 
bol of some particular virtue. For this 
reason, lambs were peculiarly agreeable 
to him. 

" Why," said he, to a butcher, " do 
you hang and torture my brethren the 
lambs ?" 

Seeing some birds caught in a net, he 
addressed them : '' Ye doves, my dear 
little sisters, simple, innocent, and pure, 
why did you allow yourselves to be 
caught thus." 

A lad went to Sienna, to sell some 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



turtle doves -vvliicli he had taken alive.i 
Francis met him on the way and said: 
'^ These are innocent birds, which are 
compared in Scripture to chaste and 
faithful souls. I beg you earnestly not 
to put them into the hands of persons 
who would kill them, but to confide 
them to me." They were given to him, 
and he put them immediately into his 
bosom ; he spoke to them as if they 
were capable of reasoning ; promising 
to prepare a nest for them, where they 
mi2[ht fulfil the intentions of their 
Creator. Having: taken them to 'his 
convent, near the walls of Sienna, he 
forced his stick into the ground before 
the gate, and the stick became by the 
following day a large evergreen oak. 
He let the turtle doves fly into it, de- 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 97 

siring them to make their nests there, 
which they did for many succeeding 
years, and they were so familiar with 
the monks, that they came to feed from 
their hands. Francis promised the 
young man who gave them, that he 
would become a member of the Order, 
and acquire eternal glory. Thus Francis 
loved God through the affection he 
showed His creatures. The carol of 
birds seemed to him to invite mankind 
to publish the glory of their Creator. 
He liked to remark the gray and ash 
color of larks, the color he had chosen 
for his Order, that they might often 
think on death. He liked to see them 
fly up into the air and sing, after get- 
ting crumbs of bread, as if to thank 

God. In return for his own perfect 
9 




98 THE SEPvAPH OF ASSISIUM. ^Hl 

subjection to the law of God, God gave 
him the control of animals, as He did 
to Adam before he fell from innocence. 
The first time that St. Francis went 
to Mount Alverno, he was surrounded 
by a multitude of birds, who lit upon 
his head, shoulders, breast and hands 
to evince their pleasure at his arrival; 
and at the hour of the night when he 
arose to pray, a hawk came to make a 
noise at the door of his cell: God who 
made the ravens serve Elias, caused 
His owm feathered songsters to testify 
to the sanctity of His servant Francis. 
A sheep which had been presented to 
him at St. Mary of the Angels, bent 
its fore feet at the altar of the Blessed 
Virgin so often as the religious went 
to sing the office. Such instances prove, 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUJVI. 99 

says St. Bonaventure, that the Saints 
are tender hearted. It was noticed that 
animals showed a sort of aflfection for 
Francis and apphmded what he did in 
their way. 

Having left Assisi one day to go to 
preach near the town of Bevagna, he 
saw, on a particular spot, a number of 
birds collected, of various kinds, and he 
went up to them and said : " My breth- 
ren, listen to the word of God ; you 
have great reason to praise your Crea- 
tor ; He has covered you with feathers; 
He has given you wings wherewith to 
fly ; He has placed you in the air where 
the breathing is so pure, and He pro- 
vides you with every thing which is 
necessary, without giving you any 
trouble." 



100 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



While lie spoke, the birds remained 
motionless, those which were perched 
on the branches of trees, bending their 
heads, as if to listen. Spreading their 
wings, opening their beaks, they ex- 
hibited every symptom of joy, nor took 
to flight till he had given them leave, 
and made over them the sign of the cross 
to bless them. 

At Gubio he tamed a wolf, and took 
it into the public square with him when 
he preached, and made an agreement 
with it, that it should do no injury, so 
long as the inhabitants would provide it 
with food, which was faithfully attended 
to on both sides. Wolves are sometimes 
sent, said he, to warn sinners to return 
to their duty. During two years, the 
animal came to the town to feed, and did 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 101 

no injury to anyone. At Carinola, the 
holy man tamed in a similar manner a 
fox that stole all the poultry of a poor 
old woman. 



THE LOVE THE BLESSED VIRGIN HAD FOR FRANCIS, 
AND THE WAY THE DAY OF THE INDULGENCE OF 
PORTIUNCULA CAME TO BE FIXED. 

The gentle and most amiable Queen 

of heaven was thus pleased one day to 

brinsr together two of her faithful chil- 

dren. St. Dominic being in Rome, had 

a miraculous vision, as he prayed in the 

Church of St. Peter. He saw the Son 

of God seated on the right hand of His 

Father, who rose up greatly irritated 

against sinners; holding in His hand 

three darts for the extirpation of the 
9* 



102 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



proud, the avaricious, and the voluptu- 
ous. His holy Mother threw herself at 
His feet, and prayed, for merey, saying 
that she had persons who would remedy 
the evil ; and she at the same time in- 
troduced to Him Dominic and Francis, 
as being proper persons for reforming 
the world, and re-establishing piety; 
this pacified Jesus Christ. Dominic, who 
had never seen Francis, recognized him 
.next day, and ran to embrace him: 
" You are my companion ; we will work 
together ; let us be strictly united, and 
no one will be able to master us." 

One night as Francis jorayed in his 
cell, about the beginning of the year 
1223, the devil tempted him to think that 
he fatigued himself with too much 
Drayer, being an old man. Aware of 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 103 

the malice, Francis retired to the woods, 
and threw himself naked into a bush 
of briars and thorns, till he was covered 
with blood. A brilliant lisfht which 
surrounded him, discovered to him a 
great number of red and white roses, 
although it was the month of January, 
and the winter severe. Angels appeared 
and said to him : " Francis, hasten to re- 
turn to the Church; Jesus Christ is 
there, together with His Blessed Mother." 
Miraculously clothed in a new white 
habit, he gathered twelve roses of each 
color, and went to the Church. After a 
profound adoration, thus he prayed: 
" Most holy Father, Lord of heaven and 
earth, Saviour of man ; deign, through 
Thy great m<^rcy, to fix the day of the 
indulgence which Thou hast been pleased 



104 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

to grant to this sacred place." Our Lord 
answered him, that it was His desire that 
it should be from the evening of the vigil 
of the day when St. Peter the apostle 
was delivered from his chains, to the 
evening of the following day, and told 
him to take to the Pope some white and 
red roses as testimonials of the truth of 
this fact. Francis took three of each 
color. The next day Francis, by the 
Pope's desire, pronounced the following 
words in the presence of the cardinals: 
^' The will of God is, that whosoever 
shall, with a contrite and humble heart, 
after having confessed his sins, and re- 
ceived absolution from a priest, enter the 
Church of St. Mary of the Angels, in the 
diocese of Assisi, between the first ves- 
pers of the first day of August and the 



» 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 105 

vespers of the second day, shall obtain 
an entire remission of all the sins he may 
have committed from his baptism until 
that moment." This great indulgence of 
Portiuncula now extends to all Fran- 
ciscan churches throughout the world. 



HIS PENETRATION OF HEARTS AND GIFT OF PROPHECY. 

St. Francis not only penetrated the 
inmost recesses of consciences, and beheld 
their secrets as in a clear mirror, but 
spoke of things which were going on in 
his absence, and foretold things to come. 
Urged by a strong desire to see him, and 
get his blessing, two brethren of the 
Order came to Grecio. Thev were much 
disappointed to find, on their arrival, that 
he had just retired to his cell. As they 



106 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



n 



started to return, contrary to his custom, 
lie came out, called them back, blessed 
them in the name of Jesus Christ, and 
made the sign of the cross upon their 
foreheads as they had wished. Their 
arrival, and the- desire of their heart 
could not have been known to him in 
any ordinary way. 

Near the convent of Mount Colombo 
there was a nest of crested larks, the 
mother of which came every day to feed 
out of his hand, and took sufficient for 
herself and her brood. When they be- 
gan to be strong, she brought the little 
ones to him. He perceived that the 
strongest of the brood pecked the others, 
to keep them fr^m taking up the grains. 
Displeased, he addressed the little bird 
as if it could understand him : " Cruel 



I 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 107 

and insatiable little animal, you will die 
miserably, and the greediest animals will 
not be willing to eat your flesh." Some 
days after it was drowned in a basin, and 
neither cats nor dogs would go near it 
when offered them. 

The letter which he wrote, or rather 
dictated, to Dame Jacqueline, a noble 
Roman lady who had befriended him, 
shows us that he foresaw the precise day 
of his death. This letter was dated Sun- 
day, the 28th of September, and thus 
commences : 

" To the Lady Jacqueline, the servant 
of the most High, Brother Francis, the 
poor little servant of Jesus Christ, sends 
greeting, and communication with the 
Holy Ghost, in Jesus Christ. 

" Know, my very dear lady, that Jgs!:^;' 



108 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

Christ, blessed forever, has done me the 
favor to reveal to me the end of my life : 
it is very near. For which reason, if you 
wish to see me alive, set out as soon as 
you shall have received this letter, and 
hasten to St. Mary of the Angels, for if 
you arrive later than Saturday, you will 
find me dead," etc. etc. 

One more example may suffice. At 
Calano, a common soldier pressed him so 
hard to come and dine with him that he 
could not refuse. Taking a priest along, 
the poor family received him joyfully, 
and the Saint, as he was used, began to 
pray. He then said to the soldier pri- 
vately : ^' My brother and my host, you 
see I have acceded to your request in 
coming to dine with you. Now, follow 
tiiy advice and make haste ; for it is not 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 109 

here, but elsewhere that you will dine. 
Confess your sins with as much exactness 
and sorrow as you can ; the Lord will re- 
ward you for having received His poor 
ones with such good religious intentions." 
The soldier made his confession to tlie 
companion of Francis, and prepared him- 
self as well as he could for death. He 
then sat down with the others to table, 
and a minute afterwards expired. He 
entertained a prophet and received the 
reward of one. 

At Fabriano, as Francis stood preach- 
ing in the market place, some workmen 
employed at a palace, made such a ham- 
mering, that his voice was drow^ned. 
Disregarding his entreaties that they 
would be still for a little, he said to the 

bystanders : '' The work of those who are 
10 



110 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

building that house will be of no use^ 
because the Lord did not build it." He 
added that it would soon fall, but that 
neither man nor beast would be injured 
by it, and a few days afterwards all came 
true. How the saint foretold of Mcholas 
the third, yet a child, that he would one 
day be Pope, has been already alluded 
to. 

ST. FRANCIS RAISES THE DEAD TO LIFE. 

At Terni, a young lad had been crush- 
ed by the fall of a wall. Having had 
him brought to him, he applied himself to 
prayer, and extending himself on the 
corpse, as the prophet Eliseus had done 
on the child of the Sunamite, he restored 
him to life. 

In the county of Narni, he was lodged 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. Ill 

in the house of a worthy man who was 
in great affliction for the death of his 
brother, who had been drowned, and 
whose body could not be found, so that 
it might be buried. After having pri- 
vately prayed for some time, he marked 
a spot in the river where he said that 
the body certainly was at the bottom, 
where it had been stopped by the en- 
tanglement of the clothes. They dived 
there, and the body was found, which he 
restored to life in the presence of the 
whole family. 

The inhabitants of Gaeta admiring the 
power which God gave to His servant, en- 
treated him to stay some time in their 
town, and to permit them to buiki there 
a convent for his Order. He assented to 
this, and the work was commenced forth- 



112 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



with. While the work was in progress, a 
carpenter was crushed by the falling of a 
beam. As the other workmen were car- 
rying hiru home, Francis, who was re- 
turning from the country, met them, and 
directed them to lay the dead man on 
the ground ; he then made the sign of 
the cross on him, took him bv the hand, 
called him by his name, and commanded 
him to arise. The dead man rose im- 
mediately, and went back to his work. 
This is well known in the country by 
successive tradition, and a small chapel 
has been erected, under due authority, on 
the spot where the miracle was perform- 
ed, in order to perpetuate the memory 
thereof. 

In a certain town whither Francis had 
turned his steps, all the inhabitants kad 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 113 

gone to the great square to hear him 
preach. A servant maid who had been 
left in one of the houses to tend a child, 
wishing to hear the sermon, abandoned 
her charge. Coming back, she found it 
dead, and half boiled in a copper of hot 
water into which it had fallen. She took 
it out, and the better to hide the disaster 
from the father and mother, shut it up 
in a trunk. The parents, however, learnt 
their misfortune. It Avas their only child. 
Francis had been invited to dine. Du- 
ring time of dinner, they tried hard to 'i 
suppress their tears; he did his best to ^ 
inspire them with a holy joy. At the 
end of dinner, he asked for some apples. 
They had none. Pointing to the trunk 1 
w^hich had the child in it, he said : " Look 
in that, and you will find some." It was 

10* \ 



114 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 



§ 



of no use to assure him there were none 
there. He insisted on having the trunk 
opened, and now appeared the consola- 
tion that God, to whom nothincr is hard 
or impossible, had in store for them. 
There was the child alive and well, and 
laughing, too, holding an apple in each 
hand. Transported with joy, the father 
reposed him in the arms of his saintly 
benefactor. 

In a word, Francis was a man who 
cast out devils, raised the dead to life, 
cured the sick, made animals obey him, 
was listened to as an angel when he 
spoke. 

The cord which he wore about his 
waist fell into the hands of a man who 
went from house to house where there 
were any sick, soaked it in water, and 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 115 

gave it them to drink, a draught which 
was invariably followed by a cure.^^ 

* A word on the cord of St. Francis will not be out of 
place here. After the saint had begun to preach, the crowd 
who presently strove to abandon their houses and posses- 
sions for the love of God, was so great, that there seemed to 
be danger lest family ties made sacred by God himself, 
should be broken up. To meet this difficulty, the Seraph 
instituted a third Order for persons living in the retirement 
of their own families. Wearing a knotted cord similar to 
his own, and properly blessed, such should become affiliated 
to the Order, and by complying with certain easy conditions, 
enjoy a participation in its good works and indulgences. 
St. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, to whom St. Francis made a 
present of his mantle, because she shared his spirit, be- 
longed to this third Order, as did also St. Louis, of France, 
and a host of others. Sweet bond and chain of the love of 
God, by .which Francis, raised above the earth, draws 
heavenward those, who, having their loitis girt about, and 
tlie lamp of charity burning in their hands, cherish his 
spirit. Arrived at the end of my work, one word in con- 
elusion. To a certain extent, like every other matter of 
fact narrative, it is a compilation. To those whose labors 
have served me, or rather through me done service to God, 
**Jucitndus homo qui miseretur et commodat.^* To you, dear 
reader, for the love of God, commend me in life and death, 
to the protection of St. Francis. 



116 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

St. Clare. 

The lady Hortulana of Assisi who, _ 
with the consent of lier husband, made 
a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, had 
three daughters, Clare, Agnes, and Bea- 
trix. About to be confined of the first, 
and praying to God before a crucifix in 
the church, she heard a voice, " Woman, 
fear not, thou wilt bring forth with- 
out danger a light which will illumi- 
nate a vast space." 

The child Clare was the very model 
of a good girl, who loved to pray, and 
whose virtue drew down upon her the 
admiration of all the town. 

St. Francis heard about her as she 
had of him, and conceived a great de- 
sire to present her to Jesus Christ. 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 117 

They saw eacli other several times, and 
God did His own work in her soul. 
An interior view of eternal happiness, 
filled her heart with intense love of 
God J and loathing of extravagant dress. 
She came to assist at the distribution 
of palms in the church on Palm Sun- 
day, and on the following night left 
Assisi for St. Mary of the Angels, where 
Francis, and attendants in waiting, cut 
off her hair and consecrated her to 
God, under the protection of the Queen 
of Virgins. All bore lighted tapers in 
their hands, and the religious sang can- 
ticles of joy. The cruel persecution 
which Clare suffered from her parents 
and relations in consequence of this 
sacrifice, made her sister Agnes join her 
company in the Benedictine convent of 



118 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. ||«^ 

St. Paul whither Francis had conduc- 
ted the new bride of our Lord. Francis 
cut off her hair too, ^and the sisters in 
future labored together, and attracted,! 
by their virtues, a multitude of pure 
and innocent souls. Clare afterwards 
became abbess of St. Damian. During 
life and after death her prayers were 
most efficacious. She wished one day 
the consolation to converse wdth Fran- 
cis, unwilling to come, though invited 
to a repast. Yet at the supplication of 
Clare, God brought him in spite of him- 
self and kept him there in an ecstacy 
during several hours. On a certain oc- 
casion three loaves of bread sent by 
Clare, fed thirty missionaries, and left 
enough to spare. To one of the sisters 
in her monastery she restored lost speech, 



THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 119 

to anotlier deaf one hearing. Fevers, 
dropsy, insanity itself, fled at lier toucli. 
The Saracens had besieged her monas- 
tery. Sick in bed she had herself car- 
ried to the gate and with her the pyx 
which contained the Blessed Sacrament — 
before which she thus prayed : '' Do not 
deliver to the beasts, O Lord, those who 
confess to thee, and guard your servants 
whom you have redeemed with your 
precious blood." Then a voice was 
heard, " I will always guard you." A 
part of the Saracens fled; others, struck 
with blindness, fell off the walls they 
were scaling. As herself was dying, the 
Blessed Virgin stood before her bed in 
the midst of a crowd of white robed 
virgins. 

" Upon the feast of St, Clare," says St. 



120 THE SERAPH OF ASSISIUM. 

Teresa, *' as I was about to communicate, 
she appeared to me in great "beauty, l| 
and told me to be of good courage, 
and to go on witli the work I had com- 
menced, and that she would assist me. 
Her words proved true : a house of her 
Order, near to this house, helps to sup- 
port us." 



Laus Deo et Mari^. 



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